Local & State Dispatches

Police: Man struck and killed by train ignored warnings / Assistant coach crashes SUV into college science building / Caution urged on ice after spate of vehicle incidents ... and more news from around the state.

PortTix reported Monday night that all tickets for a Feb. 26 reading by inaugural poet Richard Blanco at Merrill Auditorium have been distributed.

Tickets were free. Blanco, who lives in Bethel, became an overnight sensation after he read a new poem, “One Today” at the inauguration of President Obama on Jan. 21. His reading in Portland will include “One Today” and other works.

Bowdoin College’s science building was damaged after a sport utility vehicle operated by the college’s assistant women’s ice hockey coach crashed into it Sunday night.

Brunswick Police Chief Richard Rizzo said his officers arrested 24-year-old Holly Lorms on drunk-driving charges following the crash, which was reported at 10:41 p.m. Lorms made bail following her arrest.

Bowdoin College spokesman Scott Hood said he is unable to comment on whether Lorms would be disciplined because the school does not comment on personnel matters.

A message left on Lorms’ home phone was not returned.

Rizzo said Lorms was driving a 2009 Lexus sport utility vehicle when it hit a utility pole on Sills Drive.

Her vehicle went off the road and traveled a short distance before slamming into a brick wall of the Stanley F. Druckenmiller science building.

Lorms was alone at the time and no one else was injured, but Rizzo said the investigating officer, Matthew Swan, said the science building sustained “quite a bit of damage.” Lorms’ SUV was totaled, according to Rizzo.

The college’s website said that Lorms, a 2011 graduate of Boston University, was hired as the women’s assistant hockey coach last summer.

TOPSHAM

Former police chief faces charge of drunken driving

A former Topsham police chief faces a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol in connection with a traffic stop in November.

Timothy Young, 55, who was police chief for nine years before leaving the department in May, is scheduled for a dispositional conference next month in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court after pleading not guilty to a drunken-driving charge in Brunswick and refusing to take a blood-alcohol test, according to court records.

A Brunswick officer pulled over a black 2002 Jeep driven by Young on McKeen Street on Nov. 17 just before midnight. He was released from custody in Brunswick on $800 unsecured bail 90 minutes later, the records show.

The case was initially entered in West Bath District Court, then transferred to the court in Portland.

Prior to being police chief in Topsham, Young spent more than 20 years as an officer in Brunswick.

He didn’t return messages left on his cell phone Monday, and someone at his listed home phone number said it was the wrong number.

AUGUSTA

Caution urged on ice after spate of vehicle incidents

The Maine Warden Service is reminding people to use extreme caution on frozen waterways after responding to eight incidents of people or vehicles going through ice over the weekend.

The warden service says everyone survived.

The incidents included a truck that went through the ice on Long Lake in Naples, and snowmobiles and ATVs that becames submerged in Moosehead, Green, Schoodic, Sebasticook and Big Wood lakes. Some of the vehicles were pulled out and others remain submerged.

Early Monday morning, a truck was reported through the ice on Long Pond on Mount Desert Island. The warden service says the driver was working with the Park Service to have the vehicle removed from the public water supply.

BANGOR

Man sentenced to 30 years for abuse of 7-year-old boy

The deputy district attorney says a 30-year sentence imposed on a man who pleaded guilty to gross sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a minor is the longest sentence imposed for a sex crime in Penobscot County.

The sentence was imposed Monday on 28-year-old Terrence Pinkham of Bangor, who along with his girlfriend sexually abused a 7-year-old boy and recorded it on a cellphone.

She was sentenced last month to 23 years in prison for her role.

Defense lawyer Aaron Fethke said Monday that Pinkham accepted responsibility and felt that the sentence was appropriate.

Deputy District Attorney Mike Roberts tells WLBZ-TV that Pinkham will be required to spend 15 years on probation after he’s released from prison. By then, Pinkham will be in his 50s.

Neighbors spotted smoke coming from the house at 11:17 a.m. and when the first call firefighter arrived, there was smoke coming from the eaves and from around the garage door, said Fire Chief Jeff Rowe.

The firefighter alerted the homeowner, who was able to retrieve his two dogs and get out of the house. He was then taken to Goodall Hospital for evaluation but was able to return to the scene soon afterward, Rowe said. The fire got into the attic space, making it difficult for firefighters to get access to it, Rowe said, and strong winds fanned the flames, adding to the challenge.

Firefighters had the blaze under control by noon, but there was a large hole in the roof, Rowe said. The Red Cross was helping the young couple that lives there, he said.

Investigators from Sanford and the State Fire Marshal’s Office are working to determine the cause, he said.

LINCOLN

Police investigating crash that sent two to hospital

Two 19-year-old youths were hospitalized following a weekend crash in Lincoln and police say speed and alcohol are believed to be factors.

Police tell WABI-TV the 19-year old male driver was ejected from his pickup truck after striking an embankment and a tree at about 8 a.m. Sunday.

He was taken to Penobscot Valley Hospital, then flown to Eastern Maine Medical Center.

Police say the 19-year old female passenger was also brought to Penobscot Valley Hospital, but has been released. No names were released. The crash remains under investigation.

LEWISTON

Police: Man struck, killed by train ignored warnings

Police say an unidentified man was killed in Lewiston when he failed to heed warnings and was struck by a train.

Lt. Michael McGonagle said the man was hit by a slow-moving train while walking along some tracks by Whipple Street around 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

McGonagle told the Sun Journal that the conductor blew the train whistle and applied the brakes when he saw the man on the tracks. But he said the man ignored the warnings, and the train couldn’t stop in time.

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